June 2006 Archives

Today I took my son Travis to look at a litter of pups. There were a couple of liver german shorthair puppies for sale in the litter. They are almost two weeks old and are just starting to open their eyes and walk around like little drunks. Before today my son was dead set on getting a Beagle puppy but after holding a few GSP puppies he had a change of heart. Of course, all puppies are cute when they are small and cuddly. In the next couple of weeks we make the trip to Northern Utah to check out the litter from Taylormade GSPs.

After visiting the puppies we went to pick up Jake and take him to the vet to get caught up on his shots. I was impressed with the vet and his staff who came highly recommended by other local GSP owners. We also stopped by our new house to check on the progress. The owners are starting to pack and they are almost done replacing the siding on the bay windows. I was looking at the backyard by the bird barn trying to decide how to fence in the yard for the dogs. I'm also trying to decide which side of the shop to put the kennels on - North facing or South Facing. You can view my site plan here.

I decided that it would be best if I could find a German Shorthair breeder in Utah where I could go and visit the kennel and meet the sire and dame. I discovered one that I think may be just what I was looking for. In American Fork, UT there is a breeder called TaylorMade GSPs. They have a litter due this week and they expect to have a few liver females as the dame is an all liver Shorthair. Most of their dogs seem to have good bloodlines and they look to be a rebutable breeder.

I hope to hear from them soon when the litter is born. I have placed a deposit with them and currently have second pick of the females in the litter. Thier stud dog is pictured above and his name is TAYLORMADE'S MO MONEY. He has some Moesgaards blood as well as some heavy crosses with HMK's Dandy Runaway Rusty and Rawhides Clown. The dame is out of FC/AFC ERDENREICHS NAVIGATOR.

As Jake nears his first birthday and gets to be more and more like an adult dog and less like a puppy, it makes me want to have another puppy. As I've been thinking about it and researching German Shorthair puppies on the internet I have decided that I am going to get an all liver female this time. For some reason I am drawn to the all liver GSPs that seem to be gaining in popularity. But, as I realize how very little I do know about the breed it drives me to further research about German Shorthairs and their heritage. I hope to discover when and how the different colors and ticking patterns came into play. I am sure that I will discover some snobbery concerning certain color patterns and bloodlines.

This puppy pictured above is from the litter born two days ago at Rooster Valley Pheasants. I noticed that while their dogs are great bird dogs the females seem to be a little on the scrawny side. This concerned me a bit as I hope to have a litter or two of puppies if either of my dogs turn out to be worth a dang. If I do have a litter down the line I want to be sure that I am contributing something back to the breed. I have enjoyed training Jake and watching him progress even though we still have a long way to go. As we get settled into our new home next month I hope to get more serious with Jake and get him out hunting a lot more. I certainly am looking forward to getting to know my neighbor a lot more.

One of my new neighbors is Russ Peterson who owns and operates Rooster Valley Pheasants, a private hunting club not 1/4 mile down the road from our new home. Russ has at his disposal over 1000 acres of prime Pheasant and Chukar habitat. He was kind enough to give me a tour of his hunting lodge and pheasant hatchery. In the picture above you'll see a few of the 2500 2-week-old phesant chicks that he is raising for the upcoming hunting season. He says each year they burn through between 5-6K birds. Looks like me and Jake won't have to look far for good training grounds with plenty of birds to chase.

Russ is also a good dog trainer and a big fan of German Shorthairs. While touring his facility we got a chance to sneak a peek at a new litter of 7 beautiful Shorthair puppies that were whelped just the previous evening. It looks to be a good litter with 3 liver females, 3 liver males and a white and liver female. I'll keep an eye on them over the next few weeks and hopefully if I be real good my wife will let me bring one home. I've been wanting to find Jake a girl-friend, but I am having a hard time convincing my wife that I need another dog. She thinks one is too many. I hope to build nice kennels off of the shop at our new house in Annabella, UT.

Jake has been staying with his brother Biff this last few weeks as we are looking for a new home. The rental home we are staying in is not big enough for pets especially not for a rowdy like Jake. So he is enjoying some time with his Brother Biff. My friend John Jacks has been kind enough to agree to boarding Jake until we find a new home to purchase. The home we currently are looking at would be a great home for Jake. There is plenty of room for dog kennels and a big yard with room to roam. The bonus of the property is the large bird barn that will give me room to raise pheasant and chukars for training Jake. We have made an offer on the home and hope to close by the end of June. We try to visit Jake at least once a week so he doesn't forget who we are.